January 4 is World Braille Day, recognizing the rights of the visually impaired and the partially visually impaired.
It acknowledges when the communication system’s creator, Louis Braille, was born in 1809.
After being recognized by The UN General Assembly, World Braille Day was officially celebrated in 2019.
What is Braille?
Braille is a touchable representation of alphabetic and numerical symbols. It uses six dots to represent each letter and number, as well as musical, mathematical and scientific symbols.
According to the American Foundation for the Blind, the symbols are formed in units called braille cells. A cell comprises of six raised dots arranged in two parallel rows each with three dots. Sixty-four combinations can be used with one or more with the six dots.
Braille can be used to read books, documents, polls and anything that a visually impaired person needs.
The United States uses the Unified English Braille code, which is used among seven other countries that speak English.
The History Behind Braille’s Creation
The Braille system was invented by Louis Braille when he was 15. Charles Barbier, a French military captain, created a system that soldiers could use to communicate without sound at night. Called sonography, it used 12 dots to represent sounds. It was then introduced to the Institute for Blind Youth in Paris.
Braille, a student at the time, found flaws within Barbier’s communications system. Therefore, using the military’s captain’s system, with six raised dots to form a braille cell arranged in two parallel rows, each with three dots, he created what we know as Braille today. In fact, in 1844, it was demonstrated at the Institute for Blind Youth in Paris. It was adopted by Congress in Paris as the international system for writing for the vision impaired in 1878.
The U.S. adopted a Braille standard, which later became used by English-speaking countries, in 1917. Today, Braille is used widely in many languages globally.
Organizations and technology continue to work on advancing technology that renders braille and tactile graphics.
Workplace Solutions
The U.S. Census Bureau reported that in 2019, 46.2 % of working-age people who were visually impaired were employed.
Employers must provide assistance and methods to support their visually impaired workers to succeed in their roles. Fair360 offers numerous resources for People with Disabilities (PwD).
In a Myth Busters video, Fair360 and the National Organization on Disability (NOD) explored why having a disability is not a problem.
Additionally, we collaborated with NOD on the 2024 National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) Cultural Connection Toolkit. The resource provides insights and strategies to support the inclusion of PwD in the work environment.
In one of our Fair Insights videos, we addressed “How do you create a fair workplace where everyone feels welcomed, including People with Disabilities (PwD)?” We spoke with executives Luis Abad, Partner, KPMG (No. 5 on the 2024 Top 50 Companies list), and Alyssa Palaganas, Area Director of Human Resources, Marriott International (a Hall of Fame company).
